Annotations from the Literature
A collection of short commentaries on scientific papers published in 2005, covering topics such as debris flows, origin of life, Mesozoic fossil birds, fossil proteins, and dinosaurs. Published in Origins n. 59.
A collection of short commentaries on scientific papers published in 2005, covering topics such as debris flows, origin of life, Mesozoic fossil birds, fossil proteins, and dinosaurs. Published in Origins n. 59.
The present dissertation seeks to develop a theology of judgment in Gen 6-9. Following an introductory chapter, the second chapter is devoted to analyzing the three main extrabiblical ANE flood stories (the Eridu Genesis, the Atra-Hasis Epic, and the Gilgamesh Epic) from the four aspects of judgment: date, cause and purpose, extent, and procedure.
The Sixtymile Formation in the Grand Canyon is proposed as a possible geologic layer tmarking the beginning of the Genesis flood. Published in Origins n. 58.
A collection of short commentaries on scientific papers published in 2005, covering topics such as mutations, Upheaval Dome, Homo floresiensis, origin of life, dinosaur blood vessels, petrification of wood, carbon 14 in coal, and radiohalos.
Review of The Origin of the Universe. Published in Origins n. 58.
How should the Bible and natural science be related, explained, or studied? At least two positions seem possible. On the one hand, there are those who hold that a conservative understanding of the Bible and the findings of science cannot be harmonized. On the other, there are those who believe that conclusions drawn from the two disciplines can be harmonized to fit into one overall view of the world.
Poor design in Rubisco can now be added to the growing list of failed Darwinian arguments from ignorance.
In all this, the overriding importance of a correct paradigm is clear. The conclusions scientists draw from their observations of nature change radically when a different paradigm is used. God does make a difference to the Universe! This is no surprise, because He is not only the Creator, but also the Sustainer.
The world is not divided into the good creationists and the bad evolutionists. Many scientists have never had opportunity to see reasonable alternatives to a materialistic evolutionary process. Many scientists, though convinced by the evidence for evolution, are unwilling to give up on God and/or are searching for some meaning in life. Do we want to draw these people to us or drive them away?
Reaction to the editorial, Chicken Soup, and the article, Recent Developments in Near Eastern Chronology and Radiocarbon Dating, Self-organization and the Origin of Life. Even if biomolecules self-assembled into cellular organization, that would not produce life because life requires non-equilibrium chemical reactions. The editorial by Jim Gibson did not address this point. Correlation of carbon-14 dates with the biblical time scale favors the younger archaeological dates discussed in the article by Michael Hasel.
A collection of short commentaries on scientific papers published in 2003, covering topics such as bird conservation, convergence in corals, biogeography, banded iron formations, Cretaceous and Permian mass extinctions, Mediterranean evaporite, Homo floresienses, Archaeopteryx brain, fossil patterns, fossil insect, fossil hummingbird, fossil mammals, and speciation. Published in Origins n. 57.
Ecological Zonation Theory suggests that the order of fossils in sedimentary basins reflects landscapes sequentially eroded by rising Flood waters.
Currently evolutionary geology explains the fossil record as the result of slow processes and change occurring over long periods of time. However, an increasing number of rock formations and fossil occurrences previously interpreted within such an evolutionary framework must be reinterpreted as the result of rapid, or even catastrophic, processes operating on a different time scale.
The purpose of this article is to examine major interrelated issues that are present in current discussions about the biblical Flood narrative of Gen 6-9.
Life is proposed to have originated by random processes in a chemical soup. The validity of this idea can be tested by looking for life ini cans of chicken soup, which contain all the chemicals needed and so ought to provide an ideal environment for life to originate, if the theory is valid. Published in Origins n. 58.
This article provides a state-of-the-art appraisal of ancient Near Eastern chronologies in Mesopotamia and Egypt. It focuses on recent developments in both fields by assessing the current astronomical and historical bases for these chronologies and addressing the relative nature of chronology before the second millennium B.C. It documents the trend over the past sixty years to shorten the historical chronology of the Near East. Published in Origins n. 58.
The known history of birds appears consistent with the idea that they were created. These new and spectacular avian fossils suggest is that the original creation produced a much greater variety of birds than previously imagined.
When all is said and done we are forced to answer the question that Yahweh posed to Job, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?." We are forced to admit that when it comes to origins, the entire human race is ignorant. The only way to pacify our ignorance is by exercising faith. The question is, “In what will you place your faith?”
In this discussion I propose to present a scientific and a biblical model of origins and explore how these can be brought into harmony with each other. I also hope to show that the differences between the statements made by these two disciplines are largely a result of differing interpretations based on different paradigms.
If microorganisms are indeed ubiquitous and indispensable, it is reasonable to expect to find evidences of their activities in the biblical record. Such an approach may enrich our grasp of the sacred text. This paper intends to show that there is more microbiology in the Bible than meets the eye!